Wow. I have little doubt that the last several months of more modest release schedules have led Criterion to this: a massive onslaught of six – count them, SIX – new Blu-ray titles making their way to shops this coming August! I’m more than excited about this collection of titles but, to be honest, have seen precious few of them. I’ve been aware of the Dardenne Bros.’ Rosetta and La Promesse for years and have always had those films on my radar. I’ve just never had a chance to catch them. But this is the first time I’m reading about the 1928 Pál Fejös film Lonesome and, for some strange reason, Weekend, Andrew Haigh‘s breakthrough hit from only last year. On the other side of the coin, I’ve been a rabid fan of both Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums and the “mod” spectacle Quadrophenia for many years and look forward to seeing them in 1080p. Looks like August is going to be a great month to stay inside and avoid all those dangerous UV rays!
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
(August 14, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Audio commentary by Anderson
- With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles, featuring Anderson
- Interviews with and behind-the-scenes footage of actors Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Danny Glover
- Outtakes
- The Peter Bradley Show, featuring interviews with additional cast members
- Scrapbook featuring young Richie’s murals and paintings, still photographs by set photographer James Hamilton, book and magazine covers, and storyboards
- Studio 360 radio segment on painter Miguel Calderón, along with examples of his work
- Trailers
- Insert with Eric Anderson’s drawings of the Tenenbaum house
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Kent Jones
LA PROMESSE
(August 14, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.66:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- New interviews with actors Jérémie Renier and Olivier Gourmet
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones
ROSETTA
(August 14, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.66:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Conversation between film critic Scott Foundas and filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- New interview with actors Émilie Dequenne and Olivier Gourmet
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones
WEEKEND
(August 21, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration, approved by director Andrew Haigh and director of photography Ula Pontikos, featuring 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New program featuring interviews with Haigh, Pontikos, producer Tristan Goligher, and actors Tom Cullen and Chris New
- New interview with Haigh on the film’s sex scenes
- On-set video footage shot by New and others, and two scenes from Cullen’s and New’s auditions
- Video essay on the film’s set photographers, Oisín Share and Colin Quinn
- Cahuenga Blvd. (2003) and Five Miles Out (2009), two short films by Haigh
- Trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Dennis Lim
LONESOME
(August 28, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.19:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Special Features:
- New digital restoration, featuring uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary featuring film historian Richard Koszarski
- The Last Performance, director Paul Fejos’s 1929 silent starring Conrad Veidt, with a new score by Donald Sosin
- Reconstructed sound version of Broadway, Fejos’s 1929 musical
- Fejos Memorial, a 1963 visual essay produced by Paul Falkenberg in collaboration with Fejos’s wife, Lita Binns Fejos, featuring Paul Fejos narrating the story of his life and career
- Audio excerpts about Broadway from an interview with cinematographer Hal Mohr
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critic Phillip Lopate and film historian Graham Petrie and an excerpt about Lonesome from Fejos’s autobiography
QUADROPHENIA
(August 28, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Original 2.0 stereo soundtrack, all-new 5.1 surround mix in DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut version, with the original 2.0 stereo soundtrack as well as an all-new 5.1 surround mix, supervised by the Who and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
- New audio commentary featuring director Franc Roddam and director of photography Brian Tufano
- New interview with Bill Curbishley, the film’s coproducer and the Who’s comanager
- New interview with the Who’s sound engineer, Bob Pridden, discussing the new mix, featuring a restoration demonstration
- On-set and archival footage
- Behind-the-scenes photographs
- Trailers
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick James, a reprinted personal history by original mod Irish Jack, and Pete Townshend’s liner notes from the album
[...] Criterion August Blu-ray titles: The Royal Tenenbaums, Quadrophenia, Rosetta, more from The Blu-ray Blog on May 25, 2012 at 11:51AM [...]